Skin diseases are a major cause of morbidity in dogs and an important animal welfare issue (Hill et al, 2006). In particular, superficial bacterial folliculitis (pyoderma) caused by Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (formerly known as Staphylococcus intermedius) is one of the most common diseases seen in small animal veterinary practice, worldwide (Hill et al, 2006). Superficial pyoderma is characterized by the formation of follicular pustules and is often associated with pruritus, alopecia, erythema and swelling. This may develop into deep pyoderma which typically includes pain, crusting, odor, and exudation of blood and pus. The disease often occurs as a secondary infection in dogs with atopic dermatitis (AD) resulting from a type I hypersensitivity reaction (IgE antibody-associated) to environmental allergens (Hill et al, 2006). Treatment of canine pyoderma is often difficult without resorting to aggressive, medium-term administration of systemic antibacterial agents to prevent relapse of infection, and such therapy predisposes to the development of bacterial resistance that may be transferred to bacteria infecting humans (Guardabassi et al, 2004). Worringly, methicillin-resistant S. pseudintermedius has recently emerged as a major problem in veterinary clinics worldwide (Bannoehr et al, 2007). Although rare, several episodes of life-threatening infections of humans by S. pseudintermedius have been reported with the typical route of transmission being through dog bite wounds (Bannoehr et al, 2007). Previously, crude vaccine preparations based on Staphylococcus aureus phage lysate or S. pseudintermedius autogenous bacterin have shown promise as adjunctive therapies for treatment of pyoderma (Curtis et al, 2006), and a rationally-designed effective vaccine would be a highly desirable means to reducing or eliminating the suffering associated with the disease.
Accordingly, the present invention aims to obviate one or more of the problems associated with the prior art.